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Understated Glenn Whelan makes name for himself

NAME the three players ever present during Ireland's World Cup campaign and the first two - Shay Given and Richard Dunne - trip off the tongue quickly enough. The third? Step out of the shadows, please, Glenn Whelan.

Easier said than done. Brush past those two Irish veterans and a whole lot of other big names get in the way of Whelan coming forward and taking the slight bow that he deserves. Stephen Ireland, Andy Reid, Marco Tardelli, Liam Brady, Giovanni Trapattoni. All big characters and headline grabbing names who soak up attention while the unassuming character from Clondalkin in west Dublin gets on with his job with the minimum of fuss. And even then he gets caught in the crossfire. When critics take up the cudgel to attack Trapattoni over the handling of the Stephen Ireland and Andy Reid controversies, Glenn Whelan is often castigated as the sort of one dimensional